Chapter 4 I am a soldier, and I should fight the enemy——Martyr Hao Mengling

Hao Mengling, (1898.2.28-1937.10.16), a native of Zhuanghe Village, Gaocheng County, Hebei Province, was born in a peasant family on February 28, 1898 (the 17th day of the first lunar month in the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty).The Hao family has been farming for generations.When Mengling was young, he only studied in a private school for three years, and then he followed his father to farm.When he was fourteen years old, his father Hao Ruifeng sent him to work as an apprentice in a general merchandise store in Zhengding County. Because he couldn't bear the boss's abuse, he defected to the Northeast Army's Wei Yisan as a soldier.Wei is a relative of the Hao family. He worked in Fengjun at that time. Seeing that Mengling was diligent and studious, he was sent to the Army Officer Primary School and Baoding Military Officer School to study. After graduation, he served as company commander, battalion commander, and regiment attache.

On November 22, 1925, Guo Songling, the commander of the Tenth Army of the Fengjun Army, switched sides by telegram.Wei Yisan also responded and occupied Shanhaiguan.Hao Mengling was the head of the Wei Department at that time, and led his troops to block the entry of the Feng army and the Japanese army.On November 30, Fengjun Zhang Zuolin issued a declaration of "punishing" Guo Songling. Guo Songling then fought Fengjun in Juliu River. Guo Jun was defeated and Guo Songling and his wife were killed by Zhang Zuolin.Afterwards, Feng Yuxiang sent representatives to Shanhaiguan to contact Wei Yisan to oppose Feng, and Hao Mengling served as Wei Yisan's representative.Negotiations were held with representatives of Feng Yuxiang.

On January 3, 1926, Wei Yisan took up the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth Army of Fengbu National Army in Shanhaiguan, and Hao Mengling was the brigade commander of the Fourth Army. On April 19, 1927, after the Wuhan Nationalist Government held the Second Northern Expedition Swearing-in Meeting, on May 1, Feng Yuxiang assumed the post of commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Coalition Army in Xi'an.Hao Mengling was promoted to the commander of the Second Division of the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Alliance Army during the Northern Expedition.On June 1, after the Northern Expedition Army of the Wuhan Government and Feng Yuxiang's National Army joined forces in Zhengzhou, the troops were reorganized in Zhengzhou. Hao Mengling was the commander of the 54th Division of the Army and later served as the commander of the Zhengzhou Garrison.

From December 1930 to 1934, when Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary siege against the Red Army of Workers and Peasants, Hao Mengling led his troops to fight the Red Army and was defeated in Liantang.After the third counter-revolutionary siege was completely smashed by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, Hao Mengling deeply regretted her brother-in-law.When Chiang Kai-shek launched the fifth counter-revolutionary siege in 1934, Hao Mengling asked to be disarmed and returned to the farmland, but was not approved.The next year, he was transferred to Guiyang to direct the construction of the Sichuan-Guizhou and Sichuan-Yunnan Highway.In May 1937, Hao once again requested to be disarmed and returned to the field, but the authorities decided to transfer him to study in the class of generals in Sichuan Province.

At the beginning of July 1937, Hao Mengling was on his way to the Sichuan mainland when he learned of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. He resolutely returned to the army from Chongqing and asked to go north to fight against Japan.He said: "I am a soldier, and I have spent half my life fighting civil wars, which have no benefit to the country. The Japanese invaded and occupied the Northeast, and the people were filled with righteous indignation. Now that the Japanese invaders are about to destroy China, our country is at the last moment of life and death. I should go to the War of Resistance, Go and fight the enemy." After that, he wrote a letter to invite Ying, determined to lead his troops to the north, and was finally approved.At that time, Hao served as the commander of the Ninth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

In September of this year, Hao Mengling led his troops north from Guiyang to fight against Japan. Before he set off, he had made up his mind to serve the country with his death. When passing through Wuhan, he took the opportunity to bid farewell to his family. He caressed his children and said earnestly: "I love you, but I love our country even more. Now the enemy is slaughtering our compatriots every day. Everyone should kill the enemy. If The country is destroyed, and you will not have a good life." He wrote a book, sealed it, handed it to his eldest daughter Huiying, and told him to open it for reading in three days.Fifteen-year-old Huiying couldn't understand her father's feelings, so she insisted on opening it to read. Hao refused, and the father and daughter tore the letter into pieces during the confrontation, and threw it into the spittoon. Hao said goodbye to his family.Afterwards, the daughter fished the letter out of the spittoon and pieced it together. After a look, it turned out to be the general's will. The recognizable words and sentences were:

After Hao Mengling led the Ninth Army to Shijiazhuang from Wuhan, it was incorporated into the sequence of Wei Lihuang's Fourteenth Army.At that time, Yanmen Pass in Shanxi was lost, and Xinkou in northern Shanxi became Shanxi's first line of defense against Japanese aggression.In order to defend Taiyuan, Yan Xishan, the commander of the second war zone, decided to organize a battle in Xinkou, and repeatedly asked Chiang Kai-shek to send the Central Army to fight in Jin.Chiang Kai-shek agreed to send the 14th Group Army into Jin, and Yan Xishan immediately appointed Wei Lihuang, the commander-in-chief of the 14th Group Army, as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy in the second theater, and was fully responsible for commanding the Xinkou Battle.

In early October, General Hao led his troops to Xinkou to set up defenses, and actively sent troops to reinforce the Jin army in Yuanping Town, which was besieged by the Japanese invaders.After hearing and witnessing the barbaric acts and arrogance of the Japanese invaders, he became more determined to fight to the end. On October 10th, the Battle of Xinkou was about to start officially. Hao Mengling wrote his last will to his wife Ju Renqiu: These generous and tragic words showed General Hao's utter loyalty to the Chinese nation. On October 11, the Battle of Xinkou officially started.Seishiro Itagaki, commander of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army who commanded the attack on Xinkou, had a strong desire for revenge after being severely injured by the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army in the Pingxingguan area. Equipment, form a dense firepower network of "three-dimensional warfare", and attack our Xinkou position with all our strength.At that time, it was the Ninth Army deployed in the central region that bore the brunt.Hao Mengling served as the commander-in-chief of the central region.In the face of powerful enemies, without fear, come to the front line to command operations.

On the 12th, the enemy captured Nanhuaihua, the lock and key department in the central area.The enemy and the enemy engaged in a fierce tug-of-war on the 204 Highland in the northwest of Xinkou and northeast of Huaihua in the south, changing hands thirteen times a day and night.Both the enemy and the enemy suffered heavy casualties.Under the bombardment of the enemy's superior firepower, our troops suffered an average of more than 1,000 daily casualties.After the Ninth Army recaptured the highlands captured by the enemy, some regiments had only one battalion of troops left. General Hao still encouraged the officers and soldiers and said: "This war of resistance is a national war. If you win, the country will survive, and if you lose, the country will perish. Everyone should have the determination to be invincible if there is an enemy, and if there is an enemy, there is no self. I will die for the country, and the country will live for me. The bounden duty of a soldier is to protect the country and serve the people. Now the country will not be the country, and the people will not live. It is because our soldiers have not done their best. Responsibility. To put the country on a rock and save the people from the fire and water, the officers and soldiers must use their lives and fight bravely.”

When the 322nd Regiment fought to the point where there were only more than a hundred people left, General Hao went to the regiment's position and spoke to more than a hundred officers and soldiers: "...before we guarded this position with one regiment, now there is only one company left." Keep this position, even if there is only one person left, you must also guard this position. Generals have the heart of death, and soldiers have no intention of coveting life. As long as we don't die, the responsibility of resisting Japan will not be counted in one day. Before I set off, I wrote at home I will make a will, and I will never survive until I defeat the Japanese army. Now I will stick to this position with you, and I will never retreat first. If I retreat first, no matter who you are, you can shoot me; no matter who you are, as long as you take a step back, I will immediately Shoot him! Do you dare to accompany me to stand firm here?"

The officers and soldiers replied with a thunderous voice: "Swear to the death to stick to the position!" After October 12, the enemy attacked the central area of ​​Xinkou dozens of times with planes, artillery, and tanks. Hao led his troops to defend against the enemy and stood still.For fifteen days and nights, Hao was ordered to command seven brigades to attack the enemy at night from the front, and the left and right wings attacked at the same time to support them, hoping to achieve the effect of flanking attacks.At three o'clock in the night, Hao came to the front line in person, marched forward with his troops, and conquered several hills.Liu Jiaqi, commander of the 54th Division, also marched with Hao Du's team.After five o'clock, it was already twilight. Hao was worried that the newly captured position would be threatened by enemy air and artillery fire after dawn, so he decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and wipe out the remnants of the enemy immediately, so he deployed his troops more courageously.Under my pursuit, the enemy's formation was chaotic, and they had to retreat with cover of machine guns and howitzers. At this time, Hao Mengling and Liu Jiaqi were already in front of the skirmish line, only more than 200 meters away from the enemy.Suddenly, Hao and Liu were shot and fell down. When the two generals were dying, they still urged their troops to kill the enemy and serve the country, and then sacrificed heroically. At the same time, Zheng Tingzhen, commander of the Fifth Independent Brigade, was also martyred for the country. General Hao Mengling was the first army commander who died on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.The sad news spread, and the whole country mourned.When the coffin arrived in Hankou on October 24, more than 4,000 representatives from all walks of life in Wuhan went to the station to welcome the coffin. On November 15th, all walks of life in Wuhan solemnly held a memorial meeting, and the city's flags flown at half-staff.Then, General Hao's coffin was buried in Zhuodaoquan, Hongshan, Wuchang with a state funeral ceremony. On December 6, the National Government issued a special commendation order, posthumously presenting Hao Mengling as a general of the army, Liu and Zheng respectively posthumously as lieutenant generals, expressly decreed " Conservative pensions, life and deeds are stored in the Xuanfu History Museum, and the award grass is used, and it will last forever." Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, spoke highly of the dedication of Hao Mengling and others to the country and the nation in Yan'an on March 12, 1938. A heroic struggle was fought: the great unity of the country was achieved; millions of troops and countless people joined the front line, and hundreds of thousands of them died honorably and heroically in the execution of their sacred mission.Among these people, many are members of the Kuomintang, many are members of the Communist Party, and many are people from other parties and people without party affiliation.We sincerely mourn these deceased and express our eternal memory.From Hao Mengling, Tong Qige, Zhao Dengyu, Rao Guohua, and Liu Jiaqi to every soldier, they all set a lofty and great example for the Chinese. The Chinese nation is by no means a flock of sheep, but a great nation full of national self-esteem and human justice. For the sake of national self-esteem and human justice, and for the Chinese people to live on their own land, the Japanese fascists will never be allowed to achieve their goal without paying a heavy price. Its lawless purpose.Our method is war and sacrifice, war against war, revolutionary justice against barbaric war of aggression: this spirit has been proven by our nation's thousands of years of history, and now it is a great proof again.Dozens of people including General Hao Mengling died for this. ... The blood of General Hao Mengling and others will not be shed in vain. Who can say that it is not inevitable that the Japanese bandits will be driven out of China? Chiang Kai-shek also issued a sacrificial message for the two generals Hao Mengling and Liu Jiaqi who were killed in Xinkou: Woohoo!The island barbarian snake hog, recommends food to the upper country, devours fresh food from Taiwan, and seizes the Northeast again, greedy and insatiable, suppresses Pingjin, traps and invades Jin, saying that I have no one.Jiaojiao Hao Jun, leading an army alone, took the lead, galloping freely;When Fang Qi goes to the enemy, he would rather die than stand up and kill the bandit, swearing the national humiliation, a hail of guns and bullets, and perishes with the bandits. Alas!Parasitic in the world, a hundred years will pass in an instant, and life will be on the battlefield, and the voice will never end.Only thinking of the two kings, thousands of miles of courts, Jiuyuan knows, regrets.Family and children, keep asking and listening to the evening, Fanz is responsible for the aftermath, the responsibility of the living.Shengao Yudian, every inch of land, every inch of house, there are bandits but not me, everyone has the same heart.Sincerely, I will be captured into my palm, and one will be properly buried, and I will enjoy it. It is no accident that General Hao Mengling is at a critical juncture of the life and death of the Chinese nation, so he can sacrifice his life and make contributions to the defense of the nation with awe-inspiring righteousness.This is inseparable from the fact that he is always in the army and is strict with the army. Hao Mengling is strict in life and has no hobbies or vices such as smoking, drinking, gambling, and prostitution.He is diligent in reading and has purchased a large number of rare ancient books, including the Twenty-Four Histories half a wall high, various military tactics, photocopied Tibetan inscriptions, Kangxi dictionary, etymology and other reference books.He often used the historical stories of Wen Tianxiang, Shi Kefa, Yue Fei, Su Wu and other loyal ministers and righteous men to educate his subordinates and their children.Especially Wen Tianxiang is highly respected, and he can recite "Song of Righteousness" and "Crossing Lingding Ocean" fluently.He has loved sports all his life, and is interested in playing ball, skating, swimming, etc. Hao Mengling was strict in running the army. He was not allowed to take concubines and prostitutes, and he was not allowed to take drugs and gamble.When the troops camped in the countryside, they would never disturb the people easily. They often camped in the open air with grasses and oranges, and they would definitely return the borrowed straw and other things to the people.He emphasized that he drank water, kept the tank full, swept the ground, and then went out, so that no traces of the army camp could be seen as the standard.He once excerpted a military song from a collection of quotations on the management of soldiers, which was recited and sung by the whole army.The lyrics are: All three armies listen carefully, marching needs to love the people, don't carry water, don't pick a fish pond, don't hit the door on others... After the death of General Hao Mengling, his family was cared for in New China. Under the cultivation of the government and the people, four of Hao Mengling's five children graduated from college and became doctors, professors and engineers of the people: the eldest daughter Hui Ying, graduated from Sichuan Institute of Education, used to teach in No. 17 Middle School in Wuhan, and is now retired; the eldest son, Yinhuai, graduated from Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and worked as a mine manager in Dongchuan Mining Bureau of Yunnan Province. In 1966 Died of illness; second son Yinzhu, graduated from Central South Tongji Medical College, currently associate professor of Yunyang Branch of Wuhan Medical College, and member of the Standing Committee of Shiyan CPPCC; second daughter Huilan, graduated from Fourth Military Medical University, is currently an attending physician at Baoji Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Mrs. Hao, Ms. Ju Renqiu, passed away in 1984 at the age of eighty-five. On September 13, 1983, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China recognized Hao Mengling as a revolutionary martyr and issued a martyr certificate in recognition of the dedication of the patriotic soldiers.The Wuhan municipal government also renovated the general's tomb in Zhuodaoquan, Hongshan, Wuchang.Now, every time it comes to the general's martyrdom day, many people go to the general's cemetery to pay their respects.